This pertains to networking and, in particular, to ad-hoc networking.
The primary issue with Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) is that of organizing multiple wireless (generally RF) network nodes into a functional, connected network without the benefit of in-place infrastructure, such as fixed hubs that govern the network. Well-known MANET routing protocols include:                Ad-Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV),        Dynamic MANET On-Demand (DYMO),        Dynamic Source Routing (DSR),        Landmark Ad-Hoc Routing Protocol (LANMAR),        Optimized Link-State Routing (OLSR),        Topology Broadcast based on Reverse Path Forwarding (TBRPF),        Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP),and there are others. Generally speaking, existing MANET protocols work by either proactive or reactive topology dissemination. Under proactive MANET protocols either all nodes or a subset of all nodes periodically transmit into the network one of the following: (a) all routing information they know, (b) a subset of all routing information they know, or (c) the difference between their previous routing information and current routing information. Under reactive MANET protocols nodes that need a route send route-request packets into the MANET, and the protocol brokers the response to those requests.        
In addition to the general class of the MANET problem, there is a subclass in which creating a fully functioning network among the nodes of the MANET is actually secondary to the need to efficiently and reliably direct traffic to and from a single node that is chosen as a destination point for significant amounts of information; for example, the Headquarters node in a military environment.
Any MANET protocol can address this subclass, but most do so very poorly when there are many nodes, and/or in the face of any significant mobility of the nodes.